parque nacional el leoncito

At night amazing place to see the milky way and easy to spot shooting stars.During day time this is a nice place for trekking, explore local flora and enjoy a pic-nic under the trees.Across over the other side of the main road in "La Pampa del Leoncito" you can go on wind sail karts where Rogelio and his daughters will take you for a ride or you can have a go at learning and trying it by yourself but there is always a risk of an overturn.

Eat before you go and wear your warm jackets, if you go to the observatory you might wait around for the wind to die down and then you are stargazing outside so it gets chilly. WELL WORTH IT though, the sky in Barreal is glorious

The views you get here are like nothing else I've seen - especially at dusk, as the sun comes down over the mountains. Make sure you check it out if you're in town for the carrovelismo.

See the sky with your nude eye as you have never seen it! We all loved the evening visit to the observatory, all the explanations and telescope-viewing are great but the most wonderful experience was to see the sky bursting with stars. The guides make sure everybody finds something interesting in the visit, be it a kid or someone who takes astronomy as a hobby. Try to go on a week day since on weekend nights it is kind of crowded.

visited in july 2011. such an amazing place! we had a nice tour of the observatory and explored the surrounding landscape. amazing mountain views and red rocks. the flatbed of dried earth where people wind sail was really cool-we drove our car down there and explored. wild geography.

We were lucky and took a private Tour of thé observatory with the mechanics

This national park is quite off the popular tourist track and that alone made us want to visit it. It's not too easy to find tour operators / guides from Mendoza, even though everyone says that the road from Mdz through Uspallata to El Leoncito must be quite amazing. We started from San Juan. Main difference being that the road from SJ towards north and then south-west is first class, thanks to a number of mining companies situated in that region between the pre- and central cordilleras. Still was quite a drive. All in all you need to reserve one day for a visit.The drive from SJ is fantastic. The landscape is extremely colorful, the precordillera hard to beat when it comes to the beauty of desert mountain ranges. After more than an hour the valley will open up in front of you, making the view free on what's quite the sight: the main cordillera of the Andes. Down towards south you'll see the almighty Aconcagua in the far distance. But in fact, you'll be standing right in front of a mountain range of several 6000+ meter high giants, including the 6700 m high Mercedario, itself No. 8 of the highest peaks of South America. A formidable wall, considering you're just standing just about 1500 meters above sea level!As deserted as the area seems at first, it's clearly not. Some rivers flowing between the mountain ranges provide enough water to let the residents of Calangista, Tamberias and Barreal turn the desert into lush green gardens. Farming is growing, as is viticulture. Still, the villages are small and original. There's a number of hostals and small hotels in Barreal, though we could only find a small percentage of them on the web. Surely the area would offer enough quiet, nature and Andes sights to make it desirable to stay a couple of days, ideal e.g. for long-term backpackers.The national park itself was errected to protect the area from light pollution. The sparsely populated area, dry air and little to no clouds made it a great spot for some space observatories. One of those can be visited with a guided tour (spanish only). The area around the observatory offers some small tracks with signs explaining history and nature of the area. We got to see wild guinnea pigs, vicuñas, vultures and lots of other birds. The desert up there is remarkably full of life!Bellow the observatories lies La Pampa del Leoncito, an ancient, dry lake. It may not be much more than a huge, flat plain of clay. But standing on it under the burning sun, gazing at the massive peaks next to me, astonished by the mirage and the deep blue sky, I hardly ever felt so free, satisfied and humbled by the sheer beauty of the world.All that said, El Leoncito is an amazing area to visit. The sights are breathtaking and they start hours before the actual national park. Highly recommended!

En ese parque al anochecer se puede hay una visita guiada al observatorio donde con un guia te invitan a traves de telescopios la mirada del cielopuro y sin contaminacion del lugar.Los astronomos enseñan con total dedicacion los nombres de las galaxias y de diferentes estrellas las cuales son imposibles de ver en los cielos citadinos, uno descubre y se asombra de lo lleno de estrellas que se encuentra el cielo nocturno.Una hermosa experiencia inolvidable, muy importante estar abrigado ya que por la altura siempre esta fresco

Es pura tranquiliadad, muy lindo y super educativo. Es barato ir y ademas se puede disfrutar de una vista unica e inspiradora.

El lugar está bién señalizado, hay una cabañade parques Nacionales al ingreso donde te entregan un mapa y te aconsejan sobre lo que podes ver. Tiene baños públicos impecables! Recomiendo ir con tiempo porque hay mucho para ver.

El trekking lleva de 3 a 4 hs (fácil), el paisaje que se observa en el mismo es mayormente árido. Es posible visualizar roedores, zorros, insectos, etc. No hay mucha gente durante el recorrido (nosotros sólo vimos un grupo a lo lejos). El sendero está marcado.El paseo de la cascada es agradable, en el parque existen diversos puntos muy agradables con mesas y sillas, baños, guardaparques, info, etc.. En general hay mucha vegetación que contrasta con paisajes áridos. En el lugar hay un camping (creo que es gratuito, y parece muy agradable). Además cuentan con dos complejos astronómicos (por las condiciones climáticas y de presión que permiten visualizaciones muy claras), los mismos abren cerca de las 21:30 hs, el camino para llegar a los mismos es de ripio y angosto, por lo que se debe ir con cuidado.

un oasis en la quebrada, un lugar con alamedas , vista panoramica a la imponente cordillera, no dejar de visitar la cascada y los observatoriossssss

Maravilla de la naturaleza.- Todo me gustó mucho.- Un lugar para estar cerca del universo.- Realmente maravilloso.-

Reservamos una visita nocturna al observatorio pero esa noche llovió y no hubo actividad, no obstante, pudimos recorrer el parque y es maravilloso.

El camino es muy lindo, muchas vistas para sacar hermosas fotos. Cuando llegamos al observatorio estaba cerrado y el encargado no quiso atendernos, de todos modos pudimos pasear por la zona y realmente es muy ameno. Es recomendable ir a la Pampa del Leoncito, y si andas en una camioneta 4x4 mucho mejor. te puedes divertir bastante. El atardecer es bellísimo y el cielo nocturno espectacular. Te recomiendo visitarlo.